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Guantanamo detainee keeps his promise to prisoners

KENT NEWS:
Former Guantánamo detainee Omar Deghayes paid a visit to Kent to help
fulfil a promise made to fellow inmates after six years of captivity.

The
Libyan-born British citizen claims he was blinded, beaten and sexually
assaulted at the notorious American detention camp between 2002 and
2007, despite having never been charged with an offence.

He is
now one of six former Guantánamo detainees who are suing the British
government and its intelligence agencies for alleged complicity in their
abuse while behind bars.

Mr Deghayes is also featured in a new
documentary entitled Outside the Law, which was introduced by
co-director Andy Worthington at the University of Kent last week.

He
said: “I already knew Andy and knew he had studied the subject deeply.

"He
didn’t just take what the Americans and the British government told him
and he really made an effort to find the truth.

"When I came
home from Guantánamo I was silent for more than a year, but when Andy
told me about this film I decided to speak to him because I knew he
would use the information in a better way.

“I felt that I hadn’t
done enough for the people still inside the camp, who I promised I would
do my best to help once released.

“I blamed myself for not
sticking to that promise earlier, but I’m hoping to make up for it now
by spreading the word about what goes on inside places like Guantánamo.”

Born
in 1969, Mr Deghayes and his family regularly went on holiday to
Saltdean, near Brighton, until they moved to England permanently in 1980
after the execution of his father, a vocal opponent of Libyan leader
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

After graduating with a law degree from
the University of Wolverhampton, Mr Deghayes went travelling and
eventually settled in Afghanistan, where he met his wife and brought up
their son.

However, the family fled to Pakistan after the 9/11
terror attacks on the United States, which turned out to be the worst
decision they would ever make.

Mr Deghayes said: “After September
11, bounty hunters were being paid a lot of money for any Arabs living
in Pakistan, especially those who had been in Afghanistan. Many people
were rounded up and handed over to the Americans, but most were never
convicted.

“Guantánamo was a cruel and barbaric place. The guards
tried their best to humiliate inmates and break us down, stupidly
thinking they could get more information that way.

“I lost the
sight in one eye and they broke my nose and my ribs. I’ve had operations
on my fingers, which they crushed in a door.

“I’ve been beaten
more times than I can remember and was put through psychological and
sexual abuse as well. They were suspicious of anything and everything,
and always thought there was something to be found.

“Most of us
couldn’t see how we would ever be released, but I never lost hope.”

Despite
still struggling to come to terms with his experiences, Mr Deghayes
says he is determined to spread the word so others do not have to
suffer.

He added: “President Obama promised he would shut
Guantánamo but it hasn’t happened and there are still innocent people
locked up. It’s sad to see it dragging on.

“But Guantánamo is
only one prison and we fear that if he shuts that, people will forget
about the others. That’s one of the reasons why I’m involved with the
documentary, because we don’t want the prisoners to be moved from one
camp to another.